Can Court Stop Construction Of A Building?

[Anta Assamey]

The decision of the YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh led by CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to construct a state guest house atop the hill at Kapuluppada in Visakhapatnam, despite an order from the state high court against any such construction, has kicked up a row.

Within an hour of the high court directing state chief secretary Neelam Sawhney to file a counter by September 10 in a petition filed by an advocate challenging the construction of the guest house, principal secretary in chief minister’s office Praveen Prakash issued a GO, transferring 30 acres of land to Visakhapatnam collector Vinay Chand, to take up the construction.

Some people viewed it as a contempt of court, but others say Jagan has every right to construct the new house and the high court cannot interfere in the administrative decisions.

Sources said the Jagan government had in July decided to construct state guest houses at four locations – Vijayawada, Tirupati, Kakinada, and Visakhapatnam. In the first step, the guest house at Visakhapatnam is coming up. 

“The government is not shifting any guest house from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam. How can it be against the court direction? Moreover, if the government wants to construct a building in any city, does it have to take permission from the court?” a YSRC functionary asked.

However, the high court might raise an issue for allocating 30 acres of land for a state guest house, which is very huge.

The petitioner had pointed out that Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi itself was constructed in a five-acre land, though the entire Mughal Gardens is in 330 acres.

The court, at the most, suggest that a state guest house might not need so much land. But that is also an administrative decision taken by the state cabinet and it has every right to decide how big the guest house could be.

“It will provide accommodation to VVIPs like the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and judges, Union ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers and ministers during their visit to the city. One can have a breathtaking view of the beach and the city from the top of the hill,” the sources said.